Sling for barrels and the like



May 28, 1957 H. w. HILLYER SLING FOR BARRELS AND THE Filed May 26, 1955 FIG. 2.

FIG. I.

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SLING FOR BARRELS AND THE LIKE Harvey W. Hillyer, Woodbridge, N. J., assignor to The American Metal Company, Ltd., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York The present invention relates to a sling for barrels and the like and aims to provide certain improvements in such slings. More particularly, the invention relates to a sling whereby loaded wooden barrels, casks, barrel-shaped containers having a bulging side wall, crucibles and the like, may be hoisted, transported and lowered. I

Various types of devices have been heretofore employed for hoisting, transporting and lowering barrels and barrelshaped containers. Where the barrels are of conventional type, i. e., formed with wooden staves providing a medial bulging side wall and hoops, the currently available devices which operate on an overhead tongs principle, tend to subject the barrel side wall to unequal compressive forces which frequently damage the side wall and militate against such tongs holding the barrel in a secure manner.

Among the objects of the present invention are (1) to provide a sling for a barrel of the type set forth which will overcome the deficiencies in so-called overhead tongs for barrels; (2) to provide a sling having means adapted to completely encircle and support a barrel about its entire circumference at its location of greatest stress; 3) to provide a sling which will insure a barrel filled with merchandise being held intact even though the barrel has loosened staves; (4) to provide a sling which has greater inherent safety than devices heretofore used; (5) to provide a sling of the character set forth which will accommodate and handle barrels within a range of diiferent sizes; (6) to provide a sling which is relatively simple in construction and which can be readily handled with a minimum expenditure of time and effort in the procedure of hooking up and disconnecting the sling from a barrel. A still further object of the invention is to provide a sling of the character set forth in the preceding objects, which is readily adjustable to accommodate barrels of sizes normally outside the range capable of being handled by the sling.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, not specifically enumerated, are accomplished by providing a sling comprising a supporting member having suspension means engageable by a hoisting means, a plurality of depending members connected at their upper ends to spaced points on the supporting member equi-distant from the axis thereof, a loop-forming means supported by the depending members adjacent their lower ends, and means for latching the loop-forming means in encircling engagement with a barrel. The invention will be better understood from the detailed description which follows, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing showing certain preferred embodiments, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a sling embodying my invention, shown in relationship to a barrel (shown in phantom) suspended in the sling.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the sling shown in Fig. 1 taken at a right angle thereto, as viewed from the right thereof.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the sling shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a partial side elevational view of the chain 2,193,905 Patented May, 28, 1957 2 anchoring and latching means of the sling, said view being taken at a right angle from the left of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a partial elevational view of a modified form of supporting member of the sling.

Fig. 6 is a section taken along the plane of the line 6-6 of Fig. 5. 7

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawing, the sling may be said to consist of a supporting member 10, a plurality of depending members 11, 11, 12 and 12a, and a loop-forming means 13 supported by the depending members 12 and 12a adjacent their lower ends, said loop-forming means being adapted to encircle and engage a barrel having a bulging side wall, shown in phantom, to be suspended in the sling.

The supporting member 10, which may be of various forms, is herein shown as a U-shaped yoke having a crossbar 14 formed at its mid-point, with an eye 15 engageable by a hook of a hoisting means (not shown). The arms 11 of the U-shaped yoke preferably extend at right angles to the cross-bar 14 and are of a length somewhat greater than the half-height of the barrel. The depending mem-' bers 12 and 12a are pivotally connected or articulated to the lower ends of the members 11 to move toward and away from the axis of the sling in any suitable way, herein shown as by a double shear type hinge 16. The length of the members 12 and 12a is preferably somewhat less than the half-height of a barrel having a medial bulging side wall, to be supported in the sling.

The loop-forming means 13 is herein shown as a conventional crane or rigging type chain, the adjacent links 17 of which are disposed at right angles to one another. The chain 13 is of a length to completely engage around the circumference of a barrel, and one end link of said chain is suitably anchored to one of the depending members 12a, while the other of the depending members carries a guide sleeve 18 to facilitate drawing the chain around the barrel. As herein shown, the means for anchoring one end of the chain is a U-bolt 19 secured to the lower end of the depending member 120. For latching the free end portion of the chain after it has been drawn around the circumference of the barrel, the depending member 12d is formed with an oblique slot 20 of a width to accommodate a link of the chain so that when one such link is disposed within the slot, the shoulder on the adjacent link will provide an abutment which will serve to hold the chain in latched position; 1

For centralizing the sling with respect to a barrel to be supported, the cross-bar 14 of the supporting member may have attached at right angles thereto a rigid arm 21 having at its ends depending fingers 22, the inner edges of' which are tapered outwardly, as shown at 23, to engagethe top of the barrel at diametrically opposite points.- In

addition to the centralizing fingered arm 21, the depending arms 11 of the supporting member may be provided with arcuate tilt-preventing plates 24 for engaging the wall of the barrel intermediate the ends thereof. The centralizing means and the tilt-preventing means are not subject to heavy stresses or strains, hence they may be of relatively light construction. In fact, the arcuate plates 24 may be formed of spring metal having a normal curvature greater than the wall of the barrel so that it may be used with barrels of larger than normal diameter by subjecting the springs to slight tension to more effectively engage the side wall of such barrels.

The sling shown in Figs. 1 to 4 will be made of a size capable of supporting barrels of dilferent maximum diameters within a limited range. However, where it is desired that a single sling accommodate barrels having a greater range of maximum diameters, the cross-bar of the supporting U-shaped yoke may be made adjustable. In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown one way of providing for such adjustability by having the arms 11a of the U-shaped yoke formed separately from the cross-bar 14a and forming each of said arms with a right-angular portion 25 having a plurality of spaced openings 26 adapted to accommodate a locking bolt 27 engageable in the cross-bar 1 4a. To prevent tilting between the interlocked cross-bar 14a and arms 25, the former may bemade channel-shaped in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 6. In an analogous manner the centering fingered arm carried by the yoke member may be made adjustable, as shown at 28 in Fig. 5.

In use, the sling, with the free end portion of the chain extending loosely through the guide sleeve 18, is lowered manually over a barrel. The depending fingers 22 on the arm 21 will serve to centralize the sling over the barrel. Where the tilt-preventing means are formed of spring metal of greater curvature than the barrel. the spring plates can be caused to engage around the barrel by being forced downwardly thereover. The free end of the chain is then grasped and any slack pulled through the guide sleeve 13 and the free end portion of the. chain is then drawn merely hand-tight completely around the barrel and the chain link most closely approXimating the position of the slot 20 is then inserted into said slot to latch the chain in position. The sling may now be hoisted by engaging the hook of a crane or Windlass through the lifting eye 15 whereupon, the barrel will settle tightly into the chain 13, from which position it cannot move during any subsequent transport. Upon subsequently setting the slung barrel down, the tightness of the chain is relieved and the barrel may be quickly and easily released from the sling by withdrawing the chain link from the locking slot and lifting the sling assembly clear of the barrel. With a sling of the character described it will be apparent that the hoisting, transporting and lowering of barrels can be accomplished with a minimum expenditure of time and eitort and with a maximum of safety.

While I have shown and described certain preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that modifications in the structural features thereof may be resorted to within the range of engineering and mechanical skill without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A sling for barrels and the like having a bulging side wall, comprising a rigid supporting member adapted to be engaged by a hoisting means, a plurality of dependent members connected at their upper ends to spaced points on the supporting member equidistant from the center thereof, a loop-forming means supported by the depending members adapted to be disposed in en circling engagement with a barrel below the maximum diameter thereof, one of the depending members having guide means through which the loop-forming means movably extends andmeans for detachably holding the loop-forming means in operative position.

2;. A sling according to claim 1, wherein the supporting member has complemental means depending therefrom for centering a barrel with respect to the center of the rigid supporting member when applying the sling to a barrel.

3. A sling according to claim 1, wherein the loopforming means is a chain, one end of which is anchored to one of the depending members and another of said depending members carries the guide means through which the chain movably extends.

4. A sling according to claim 1, wherein the loopforming means is a crane or rigging type chain, one end of which is anchored to one of the depending members and another of said depending members carries the guide means through which the chain movably extends, the first mentioned of said depending members having a slot therein within which a link at the free end portion of the chain may engage.

5. A sling according to claim 1, wherein the supporting member is a U-shaped yoke, the arms of the U constituting at least parts of the depending members and each of the arms of the U having arcuate tilt-preventing means disposed in substantially concentric relation to the axis of the U-shaped yoke.

6. A sling according to claim 1, wherein at least parts of the depending members which are directly connected to the supporting member are rigid, and cooperating means on said supporting member and on said depending parts of the depending members for adjustably varying the effective length of the supporting member.

7. A sling for barrels having a medial bulging side wall, comprising a U-shaped yoke having a cross-bar and depending arms which are longer than half the barrel height to be supported in the sling, a second pair of depending arms, of less length than half the barrel height, pivoted at one end to each free end of the yoke arms, a chain supported by the other ends of said second pair of arms adapted to be disposed in encircling engagement with a barrel below the maximum diameter thereof and means for detachably holding the chain in operative position.

8. A sling according to claim 7, wherein the cross-arm of the yoke has suspension means engageable by a hoisting means, one of the second pair of depending arms has guide means through which the chain movably extends, and means on said other of the second pair of depending arms for anchoring one end of the chain and for detachably engaging a link at the free end portion of the chain.

9. A sling according to claim 7, wherein the U-shaped yoke carries means for centering and preventing tilting of a barrel when supported in the sling.

10. A sling according to claim 1, wherein the dependent members are longer than half the height of the barrel to be supported in the sling and the means for detachably holding the loop-forming means in operative position is on the other of the depending members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 107,444 Grapple Sept. 20, 1870 201,648 Bulkeley Mar. 26, 1878 842,719 Smith Jan. 19, 1907 1,222,166 Weaver Apr. 10, 1917 

